1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for starting an internal combustion engine for powering a vehicle having an automatic transmission system, which is capable of starting the engine without complicated operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, conventional vehicles with automatic transmission systems are arranged to allow the internal combustion engine to start only when the range selecting lever of a selector is positioned at either the neutral or park position. Consequently, to restart the engine and get the vehicle moving again in the case where the engine has stalled when, for example, the vehicle is in the middle of a railroad crossing, the driver has to turn the ignition switch to the start position after returning the range selecting lever to either the neutral or park position, and further has to move the selecting lever to, for example, the drive position. The driver thus has to perform complicated and time-consuming operations, so that there is risk that the restarting of the engine may be delayed. This is particularly a problem in an emergency of the type just referred to since the delay in restarting the engine may result in a serious accident.
To overcome the aforesaid disadvantage, Japanese Patent Application Public Disclosure No. Sho 60-248443 proposes an engine starting system which is capable of starting the engine even with the selecting lever is shifted to a position at which the operation for starting the engine is normally inhibited, so long as the brake pedal is depressed.
However, in an emergency such as mentioned above, the driver may become so excited that he forgets to depress the brake pedal, so that there is still a possibility of the engine starting operation being delayed. Thus, an engine starting system for vehicles which allows the engine to be started more simply is needed.